Reacting to reports of mysterious cases of unidentified helicopters landing in some provinces, the Afghan Acting Defense Minister said that the government investigates the rumors that militants are transferred by helicopters into different parts of the country. For many years, at some points there have been reports of suspicious helicopter flights across the country, and at other times, allegations of militants being transported into specific areas across the country. Speaking to a news conference, Masoom Stanekzai said that a joint commission including officials from the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior, Air Force and National Security Directorate was responsible to go and investigate the areas where the alleged helicopters are said to have landed. The acting defense minister said that it is possible that emergency landings happen in some border regions of the country. Mr. Stanikzai added that Afghanistan has no nationwide radar system and the country’s airspace is not under its control.

The reports once again highlights the questions raised to the public over what external or internal circles are having mysterious involvement in the ongoing conflict and helping Taliban to expand and continue the violence. In the past, the questions have been repeatedly raised by MPs, government officials, the media and the activists. However, the government has so far rejected the allegations that unknown and unaccounted helicopters are transporting insurgents into conflict zones across the country. Reacting to the recent rumors, Afghan Acting Defense Minister said that the purpose of spreading the rumors was to undermine morale of the public and involving us “in a psychological warfare”. However, he fell short of rejecting the news categorically, reassuring that the government would examine the issue thoroughly.

There is no doubt that different circles particularly external players have always played a complicated game in Afghanistan’s long-lasting conflict. Many international and regional spy agencies have been involved in some way and overt and covert activities supporting one of the many sides of the current conflict in the country. And there is no doubt that such foreign, and possibly internal, actors are still involved in supporting the insurgent groups or other sides of the conflict in one way or another. Lack of a total control over the intelligence affairs in the country, or put in other words, lack of intelligence sovereignty leaves Afghanistan particularly vulnerable to the possible foreign actors involved with the Afghan conflict as well as insurgent groups who are backed by many circles in the neighboring and regional countries. There has always been a war of intelligence among the parties involved in the country’s conflict.

Perhaps no government official would deny involvement of foreign spy agencies or other actors in Afghanistan’s current insurgency. Therefore, the government needs to be honest with the public, so to be able to convince the people that the government is defending them against the threats and will protect them from whatever threats in the future. In such a chaotic environment of war and intelligence, the government needs to be transparent over the issue with the people. It should inform the public to the extent it knows of what external or internal groups or regional countries are being involved in Afghanistan. A sense of distrusts among the public to the government would not help the security and intelligence agencies to provide security and gain the confidence of the public.

Public confidence to what the government is doing to counter the threats emerging from the militant groups and other external players would enable the state to restore order and security and better fight the insurgent groups. In contrast, public distrusts to the government would undermine its efforts to fight the Taliban and improve security across the country. On the other hand, the government needs to be more transparent on such issues so to end the environment of distrusts among the public to some influential government circles political groups being involved in promoting violence in the county or supporting the insurgent groups. A poisoning political environment of distrusts would not be helpful for the country at such a difficult time when Afghanistan is struggling to contain the insurgency.

It is not for the first time such reports are published or such claims are made over suspicious activities of known and unknown groups operating mysteriously in the country. There have been reports of movement of mysterious helicopters flying into the northern part of the country. Previously, former president Hamid Karzai bitterly criticized and expelled two UN employees for having relations with the Taliban. Once he criticized foreign troops for have secret dealings with the militant groups, for instance in Maidan Wardak province. At other times, there were reports of dealings between the militants and foreign or internal actors operating in Afghanistan. Recently, senior Mujahedin leaders and MPs accused politicians and circles of having relations with the Islamic State and other militant groups. Not investigating such claims will create serious threat to the country’s long term security and stability from foreign spy agencies and other actors as well as those internal circles having relations with other countries and the militant groups.

The government needs to do more and take more serious the allegations of involvement of any groups in the ongoing security and war affairs in the country. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure no unauthorized military and nonmilitary planes land in Afghanistan’s soil, including the border areas, without prior permission from the government of Afghanistan. The government should be able to reaffirm its control over the country’s aerial and intelligence affairs in the country. If any such activities are true, no difference which parties is involved, the Afghan security agencies should take decisive actions to eliminate the threats. Such activities are fuelling the violence and instability in the country and further worsen the situation in different provinces. It is an issue of the country’s sovereignty, security and long-term stability. The authorities should not neglect the reports over the mysterious activities of transportation of fighters into conflict zones across the country.